The update promises major changes to improve user experience and introduces a modular design, replacing Aave's monolithic architecture. Decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Aave is releasing its V4 update, a major protocol upgrade, sometime in the fourth quarter of 2025, introducing modular lending markets and new risk controls among new features. The update introduces a “hub and spoke” modular design to Aave to allow for crypto borrowing and lending markets with more custom parameters, without trapping liquidity in different siloes, according to an update from Aave. Liquidity hubs act as central pools for modular spokes; each of the spokes represents a different market with one of three risk profiles and features different borrowing and lending rates, replacing Aave’s current uniform rates. The team wrote: Read more
China launched a digital yuan operations center in Shanghai focused on cross-border payments, blockchain services and digital-asset platforms. China’s central bank has opened a new operations center for the digital yuan in Shanghai. The center will oversee platforms for cross-border payments, blockchain services and digital assets as part of the digital yuan’s ongoing development. State-run Xinhua News Agency reported the news on Thursday, citing a statement from the People’s Bank of China. According to Xinhua, the center is designed to promote the digital yuan’s role in global finance. With the launch, officials unveiled a cross-border payments platform, a blockchain service platform and a digital asset platform. Read more
Researchers at banking giant HSBC said they successfully applied quantum computers to algorithmic bond trading in an experimental test. Hong Kong-Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), an international banking giant, announced the first successful test of quantum computing in a trading application on Thursday. Researchers at HSBC used a quantum computer processor as part of their algorithmic trading process, a method of trading that uses pre-defined rules to execute transactions, to find the likelihood of filling over-the-counter (OTC) bond orders at the desired price. HSBC announced that the quantum processing created a 34% improvement in predicting bond prices and the likelihood of filling orders without slippage. Philip Intallura, HSBC’s group head of quantum technologies, said: Read more
Experts weighed in on how a recent policy change at the US Securities and Exchange Commission could affect retail crypto investors. The US Securities and Exchange Commission approved new listing standards for commodity-based trust shares last week, a policy shift that could shorten the path to launching spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), but questions remain for some investors. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart said the policy change, announced by the SEC on Sept. 17, would be a positive move toward a “wave of spot crypto ETP launches.” Eric Balchunas, another senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, suggested that the SEC had just cleared the regulatory tape for crypto ETFs “so long as they have futures on Coinbase,” hinting at the different regulations that applicants will face depending on the investment vehicle they plan to offer. Read more
Among the bets the characters made in the animated series included whether a fictional baby was a boy or a girl. The animated series South Park already kicked off its 27th season by ripping into cryptocurrencies and politics, and its most recent episode set its sights on prediction market apps. In its episode titled Conflict of Interest, which aired on Wednesday, the characters in South Park’s elementary school engaged in a debate over the merits of prediction markets and the role US regulators had in overseeing them. Among the bets they made on a Kalshi- or Polymarket-type app included guessing school lunches, the outcome of conflicts between Israel and Palestine and whether a fictional baby was a boy or a girl. Read more
Cloudflare said NET Dollar is aimed at powering instant payments for AI agents, creators and developers worldwide. Cloud infrastructure company Cloudflare has announced plans to move into the digital assets market with the launch of a US dollar-backed stablecoin. According to a Thursday announcement, the company is working on the NET dollar, its stablecoin intended to support instant transactions triggered by AI agents — autonomous software programs that can perform tasks such as booking travel, ordering goods or managing schedules. “Personal agents will be able to take instant, programmatic actions like paying for the cheapest flight, or ordering an item the moment it goes on sale,” Cloudflare said about its vision for the stablecoin. Read more